By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Mick White is out at the Douglas Old Root Beer Barrel. After helping the city bring the landmark back to life six years ago, he has lost his lease-renewal bid.
Mayor Jerry Donovan told Fox 17 TV Nov. 15 he, Douglas and customers sang only praises for what White has done, but municipalities owe taxpayers a competitive bidding process.
“That’s just being open and fair to all,” he said.
Council confirmed the move Monday after electing Cathy North new mayor and Randy Walker pro-tem voting to award 505 Water St. Café LLC a three-year lease with two optional one-year extensions over White and two other bidders responding to the city’s request for proposals (RFP) issued Sept. 21.
City manager Lisa Nocerini said two proposals met all RFP requirements, andtheir representatives were interviewed in person by the Building Committee.
Its members picked owners of two 505 Water St., cafés, Grilled Cheese Shack and Basecamp Coffee & Waffles, plus the Smoothie Hut, 246 Culver St., all in downtown Saugatuck. Todd Martinson of Douglas is their proprietor.
He bid 10 percent of each year’s gross sales with a minimum of $10,000 yearly. “For example,” 505’s terms noted, “for the 2024 season, assuming $150,000 in sales, the total lease payout would be $15,000.
Also bidding were;
- Douglas-based Jackie Leach’s Jacks Pack LLC, which offered $5,000 yearly plus 5% shared gross revenue
- Outlaw Roasted Corn #4, specializing in roasted corn, loaded potatoes and walking tacos, owned by Jackie Vasquez since 2022. The family operation offered a 10% commission on all sales.
- White, who bid $6,000 for the 2024 season, $7,000 for 2025 and $8,000 for 2026.
Letters and emails were sent Monday, Nov. 13, said Nocerini, to applicants not chosen, thanking them for bidding.
White, who said he learned that way, in turn thanked Douglas for giving him and summer help the opportunity to work inside a restored 17-foot-tall redwood barrel.
“Who else can say that?” he asked. “I’m grateful for my time and wish whoever comes in new the best.”
Roundabout Ways
The Aug. 8, 2021 Commercial Record wrote at the last leasing, “White stands to be back at the Barrel at least two more years after City Council concurred July 18 to extend his lease, upping payments to $5,000 per year.
“The city, which owns the rehabbed 17-foot-tall redwood structure and land beneath it on the southwest corner of Ferry and West Center streets, first leased it to longtime local resident and businessman White in July 2018,” the CR piece went on.
“There were few bidders then to run an outdoor-seating restaurant without water or electricity in a structure abandoned 40 years ago catty-corner where it is now.
“The structure, from which
on-the-way-to-Saugatuck and Douglas Lake Michigan beach concessions were sold from the 1950s to 1970s, by 2011 had grown decrepit and was slated by then-private owners for demolition.
“It was rescued by a Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society (now History Center)-affiliated Friends of the Barrel volunteer group, who dismantled what was left and started seeking a new home for it,” the paper remembered.
“Members raised funds selling stave sponsorships, Barrel t-shirts and even roller-skating carrying old-fashioned drive-in trays during Saugatuck July 4 parades.
“Still-usable staves were stored, sanded and varnished in a local boat restoration warehouse while Friends sought a public space where they could rebuild and place it, ideally still in Douglas.
“A restored root beer barrel, they felt, had promise as a tourist attraction, but what other uses could be put to it?
“For 40 years it had sat unused as a snack shack, even with at one time a miniature golf course outside. Not much room, 150 square feet, inside for a kitchen, even with electricity and water.
“What fiscal return might be drawn for committing such public space plus maintenance? Time to seek and strike a deal with some venturesome private vendor.”
“White, in 2018, was that guy. But not before Douglas joined the Friends kicking in for park site landscaping, lighting and signage.
“White opened for a short season (basically August 2018) to long lines of people hungry for novelty, nostalgia and old-style root beer, foot-long hot dogs and more treats,” the local newspaper reported.
“Council in February 2019 extended White’s lease for another year at a $500 nonrefundable rental fee, requiring him to maintain insurance on the premises, empty site trash hourly and conduct the business according to all federal state and local regulations. He was also OK’d to use electrical outlets and water located in and around the site for concessions.
“That year,” White told The Commercial Record, “was really learning how to run a root beer barrel.”
“He may have shown enough,” said the paper, “that two other parties joined him bidding for a 3-year lease Douglas put up in spring 2020.
“Others offered possibly higher payments, but more factors — such as experience running such an operation at what service level — were part of city considerations. So were concerns about a new Covid-19 virus.
“White that April was extended the lease for $750 during the 2020 season, $800 for 2021 and $850 for 2022. Per further extension terms then agreed to based upon mutual consent, payments of $900 would be due for 2023 and $950 for 2024. Revenues collected were earmarked for park maintenance.
“I’m glad to be back,” White then told the paper. “It is the hardest job I have ever had … also the most rewarding, challenging and fun job I’ve had,” he said.
Views from the Other Side
On the Barrel’s Facebook pager Nov. 15, White posted, “I received a email from the city yesterday that informed me that they did not accept my bid for the upcoming three-year contract. They have decided to go with someone else.
“I would like to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have supported me and the Barrel the last six years. It is with a sad heart that my stewardship has come to an end.
“I am 53 years old now and kinda scared to start over, but when one door closes, another opens. If anyone knows of a position that needs a hardworking, honest, loyal, kind manager or hears of one, please feel free to reach out to me.
“I will take a month this winter to move out all the equipment from the barrel, then after that I need to find employment. Thank you, Mick.”
White next day on Facebook addressed Donovan telling Fox News Nov. 15 “my bid was basically incomplete.
“Mayor,” he wrote, “I strongly disagree with you. My proposal was on time and stated what I felt was a fair amount for the lease for the kind of operation I ran.
“Now, it may have not been what they (city council) wanted, but by no means dud it qualify as incomplete!
“I understand they wanted some type of a revenue-sharing lease. Should that be the case, I would have liked city insurance and benefits,” White went on.
“Just because someone at City Hall came up with a revenue-sharing lease instead of a flat rate for the city does not make it right or my bid incomplete …
“Now some good news: I have hundreds of mugs and t-shirts I will be selling on this Facebook page. Mugs, growlers and t-shirts for 75%
“I will post more about that sale after I am done cleaning out the barrel, but first I’m leaving for a needed vacation that’s been planned for months, then the sale will begin.
“God works in mysterious ways, they say. Thanks, Mick.
Ready to Work?
Council’s affirming its Building Committee by going with 505’s high bid drew correspondence included in Monday’s packet.
Handwritten letters hailing White’s efforts and urging Douglas re-lease to him came from longtime residents Nicki Gallas and Helen DeGeatano.
Gallas said when her parents owned the Barrel in the 1970s, cooking was done inside a small house behind it. She noted White and employees now did all cooking inside a small barrel with no air-conditioning.
“I wish the people who think they should have the contract for the Barrel would go there and see how hard these people work. I doubt many would want to work in that small space for so many hours a day.
“Mick,” Gallas ended, “has made the Barrel a thriving business and does all the hard work. And he’s tried not to raise his prices so the average person can afford to do business there.”
DeGeatano, 20-year founding head of the Douglas Dutchers Vintage Base Ball Club, wrote Sept. 25 urging Douglas to re-lease the site to White.
“I would appreciate you to honor his commitment to the city,” DeGreatano said.